Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa #99 brings down Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay #30on a short run in he first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus #8 kicks the game winner out of the hold of Denver Broncos punter Colby Wadman #3 as Los Angeles Chargers defenders try to block the kick in the second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Uchenna Nwosu #42 hits Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay #30 in he second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers kicker Mike Badgley #4 kicks his third field goal out of the hold of Los Angeles Chargers punter Donnie Jones #5 in he second half of the game against Denver Broncos at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler #30 strait arms Denver Broncos inside linebacker Josey Jewell #47 after the catch for a first down in the second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers strong safety Jahleel Addae #37 stops Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay #30 in the second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers strong safety Jahleel Addae #37 and Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Kyle Emanuel #51 stop Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay #30 on a first down run in the second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Damion Square #71 celebrates his sack of Denver Broncos quarterback Case Keenum #4 in he first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Damion Square #71 sacks Denver Broncos quarterback Case Keenum #4 in he first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon #28 is hit by Denver Broncos linebacker Shaquil Barrett #48 on a short run in he first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen #13 makes the first down catch in front of Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris #25in he first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay #30 runs for a more than 40 yard touch down and away from Los Angeles Chargers strong safety Jahleel Addae #37 in he first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers #17 heads to the tunnel for player introductions before the first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers fans celebrate after a first down against the Denver Broncos in the second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers #17 passes to Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen #13 as he is hit by Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris #25 in the second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Denver Broncos head coach Vance Joseph arguers a targeting call against Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris #25 in the second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay #30 salutes after scoring on a short run against the Los Angeles Chargers in the second half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

in tLos Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers #17 changes the play at the line against the Denver Broncos in the first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller #58 sacks Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers #17 in the first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton #14 is unable to make the catch as he is defended by Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward #26 in he first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Denver Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton #14 is unable to make the catch as he is defended by Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward #26 in he first half of the game at StubHub Center in Carson on Sunday, November 18, 2018. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

CARSON – As soon as it left his hand, Philip Rivers knew he’d made a mistake.

It was third down, and the Chargers clung to a two-point lead with less than two minutes remaining. A single first down would seal it, but without a timeout, even a sack would melt the clock away. As Rivers approached the huddle, with seven yards separating the Chargers from kneeling out their seventh straight win, the quarterback reminded himself to take a sack if all else failed.

But like most of the Chargers’ plans on Sunday, even this went unexpectedly awry. As Rivers looked for the screen pass to his right, cocking back his arm to throw, Von Miller floated into his field of vision. His arm still firing forward, Rivers tried to pull back at the last second, but the ball kept moving. The throw slipped from his grasp and crumbled awkwardly to the turf. In short order, the Chargers would crumble along with it.

All afternoon, they’d outplayed the struggling Broncos, outgaining them by 154 yards, torching them on third down and trouncing them in time of possession. In brief blips, the Chargers looked every part of an AFC contender — their high-flying offense stretching the field, their bend-but-don’t-break defense flexing. But that facade fell in the fourth quarter, as the Chargers dealt themselves a 23-22 divisional defeat for which Denver will ultimately be given credit.

“We dominated the game,” said wideout Keenan Allen said. “Turnovers, we gave them some points and that’s what happened. They suck.”

The first part, at least, is true. Until that final possession, the Chargers were in full control, with innumerable paths to victory. But a confluence of missteps and miscues erased all of that, as a Broncos offense that struggled just to move the ball drove 75 yards in less than two minutes, before capping their comeback gut punch with a 34-yard game-winning kick.

Afterward, a frustrated Rivers declared that the game “was about to be a blowout.” Instead, the Chargers ended up throwing the game away on their final possession, and waving goodbye to their six-game win streak.

“When you make some of the errors we made today in critical moments, you open yourself up to get beat,” Rivers said. “That’s what happened today. We had every opportunity to close it out.”

More often than not, though, those opportunities were wasted over the course of the Chargers’ sloppy performance. A season-high 14 penalties for 120 yards stalled drives at the worst possible times. A fake punt duped the defense for the second week in a row, leading to a touchdown. A pass rush bolstered by the return of Joey Bosa failed to create any pressure when it needed it most. Another missed extra point, this one by previously perfect kicker Michael Badgley, proved costly. Even Rivers, who surpassed 400 yards passing for just the second time this season, threw two inexplicable picks.

But it wasn’t just one glaring mistake that stole Sunday’s game from the Chargers. Rather, it was a swirling, stinking mess of them, all of which the Chargers might’ve overcome, anyway, if they’d made even just one more play.

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“We could’ve overcome the penalties,” Rivers said. “We could’ve overcome the mistakes. We would’ve, if we just finished the game the right away, but we didn’t. We let it compound.”

And eventually, it broke them.

Until late in the third quarter, the Chargers seemed ready to break through and rout the Broncos at any moment. Leading 19-7, they were knocking on the door again, with a third down at the Broncos’ 35-yard-line.

For most of the game, Rivers had been unstoppable on third down, completing each of his first eight third-down attempts for 175 eye-popping yards. As he snapped the ball, he looked right and saw Travis Benjamin open on a screen.

But so did Miller. Sniffing out the route, the Pro Bowl pass rusher snagged Rivers’ pass out of the air and took it 42 yards in the other direction. Three plays later, Broncos running back Royce Freeman ran in a touchdown to cut the lead to five. In a matter of minutes, the momentum in a game that long seemed decided had flipped entirely on its head.

“You know you should’ve won the game,” Chargers running back Melvin Gordon said. “You had chances to put the game away, and then you came up short by making mistakes and penalties, shooting yourself in the foot.”

Those mistakes could haunt the Chargers for some time, given the opportunity they had to gain on the Chiefs in the AFC West standings. Now, if the Chiefs beat the Rams on Monday night, Kansas City will hold a crucial two-game lead in the division heading into the final stretch.

It all may not have mattered, if Rivers had only taken that sack on third down. … Or if the Chargers had just run the ball on third down and let the clock tick. … Or if, on the play before, Gordon hadn’t gone in the wrong direction.

“We needed a first down to win the game,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said. “We were trying to stay aggressive. … We needed one first down. That’s what we needed to win the game.”

One play. That was it. But against the middling Broncos, as penalties piled up and mistakes eventually broke them, that was too much to ask on a sloppy Sunday at StubHub.

Ryan Kartje is a sports features reporter, with a special focus on the NFL and college sports. He has worked for the Orange County Register since 2012, when he was hired as UCLA beat writer. His enterprise work on the rise and fall of the daily fantasy sports industry (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/industry-689093-fantasy-daily.html) was honored in 2015 with an Associated Press Sports Editors’ enterprise award in the highest circulation category. His writing has also been honored by the Football Writers Association of America and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Ryan worked for the Bloomington (Ind.) Herald-Times and Fox Sports Wisconsin, before moving out west to live by the beach and eat copious amounts of burritos.